Innocent men being freed!

[umalak_]

I don't have the links to the stories but I was reading the paper today and in the front section there were two or three stories about men being freed from prison due to DNA evidence or other methods. I wish I had the links so I could post them but I loved reading about it.

oh one of the free men was freed because the judge overreacted. he was put on probation for being involved in an armed robbery (he was a minor at the time) and during his probation he was caught with pot and the judge gave him life in prison because of that. it was total bullshit but then the same judge gave another man no punishment after he was caught with cocaine in the same situation multiple times.

I saw mention several times about the overcrowding at the prisons and how there are many people who are wanting an overhaul of the justice system and how they want to focus more on rehabilitation and prevention rather than just sending everyone away.

anyway, if you get the DMN and read the front section i'm sure you'll see it all. i was filled with a little bit of hope after reading about the various stories.


edit: i couldn't imagine being in prison for 20+ years on charges i was innocent of. i mean one man was charged with raping a little boy. how fucked up is that. i can only imagine how pissed off i'd be sitting there in jail on some bullshit like that.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by umalak_

I don't have the links to the stories but I was reading the paper today and in the front section there were two or three stories about men being freed from prison due to DNA evidence or other methods. I wish I had the links so I could post them but I loved reading about it.

oh one of the free men was freed because the judge overreacted. he was put on probation for being involved in an armed robbery (he was a minor at the time) and during his probation he was caught with pot and the judge gave him life in prison because of that.

yeah - I'd really like to see a link to that. I'll agree that this is an overreaction. So far over the top that I'm thinking its either false or there's a lot of missing info.

Originally Posted by umalak_

it was total bullshit but then the same judge gave another man no punishment after he was caught with cocaine in the same situation multiple times.

Just presuming for sake of argument that the two people were identicle but pot for rail and very different results I'd agree - this is a fucked up judge and he needs removal. However, I'm thinking there's prolly a lot more in play that just dope v cocaine.

[umalak_]

well the judge was already removed. he lost the last election.

but the story was pretty clear. exact same circumstances only one guy had connections and the other didn't. two guys had no previous criminal record and were on probation and then found with drugs. one guy gets life, the other guy gets off... on more than one occasion according to the story.

it was on the front page of the DMN today.

the second story was about the man being found innocent of raping a young man - DNA evidence.

the third story was about a case where a man was convicted back in 1983 of some crime (i don't remember what it was) and one of the lawyers that put him away was withholding evidence and this all just came to the attention of a judge recently and the DA isn't going to free the man.

the other two were set free but the last one the DA hasn't freed him yet even though he is innocent.

ALSO... there was a story of a young girl who was walking to school and she was running late and a guy in a camper asked her if she'd like a ride to the school and the girl said YES and got in... SO FUCKING STUPID. anyway, the man asked her if she'd like to skip school and have sex with him and the girl said that she didn't but she had a friend who would so the man took the girl to the school and she went in to get her friend but instead told the security at the school and the cops were called and the man was picked up and charged with soliciting prostitution.

How fucked up is that?

[PETA]

Originally Posted by umalak_

well the judge was already removed. he lost the last election.

but the story was pretty clear. exact same circumstances only one guy had connections and the other didn't. two guys had no previous criminal record and were on probation and then found with drugs. one guy gets life, the other guy gets off... on more than one occasion according to the story.

it was on the front page of the DMN today.

the second story was about the man being found innocent of raping a young man - DNA evidence.

the third story was about a case where a man was convicted back in 1983 of some crime (i don't remember what it was) and one of the lawyers that put him away was withholding evidence and this all just came to the attention of a judge recently and the DA isn't going to free the man.

the other two were set free but the last one the DA hasn't freed him yet even though he is innocent.

ALSO... there was a story of a young girl who was walking to school and she was running late and a guy in a camper asked her if she'd like a ride to the school and the girl said YES and got in... SO FUCKING STUPID. anyway, the man asked her if she'd like to skip school and have sex with him and the girl said that she didn't but she had a friend who would so the man took the girl to the school and she went in to get her friend but instead told the security at the school and the cops were called and the man was picked up and charged with soliciting prostitution.

How fucked up is that?

pretty fucked up and a good thing the cat's gone

you know my opinion about our criminal justice system and when assholes fuck it up like that it infuriates me... assholes have to pay to be sure but when judges can't tell assholes from not assholes we have a problem

[umalak_]

yeah well they mention in the story about other things going wrong in the justice system and they also mention that several people want some serious reform.

i mean, i know that the one time that i've had some legal problems (not drugs or anything like that) that i felt like i was screwed over. things weren't explained to me in a clear way and i was lied to and rushed along. honestly if you don't have a bunch of money to pay a good lawyer then you're fucked.

two people can do the exact same crime and if one has a good lawyer and the other doesn't then they don't get the same punishment and i don't really think that's the way it should be.

and i also have to think that there is some terrible racism and classism going on in the justice system. i'm not saying that white people are treated great and everyone else is treated like shit, but when the majority of the prisons are filled with minorities then something is wrong because the majority of crimes aren't committed by minorities. correct me if i'm wrong here... and hopefully not with stats that are misrepresentative of the truth.

[PETA]

it goes without saying that the adminstration is not perfect - there is always room to improve